This article will guide you on how to create an employee survey about employee engagement. With Specific, you can build this survey in seconds, allowing you to focus your energy on what really matters—acting on the insights you uncover.
Steps to create a survey for employees about employee engagement
If you want to save time, just generate a survey with Specific.
Tell what survey you want.
Done.
Honestly, you don’t even need to read further if you’re in a hurry. You just describe what you want, and AI takes care of the rest, using expert-backed knowledge to create a survey that fits your needs. The best part? It can even ask smart follow-up questions to extract deeper insights from your team.
Why employee engagement surveys are a must
Let’s get real—surveys aren’t just company busywork. They actually deliver meaningful results. Engaged employees are 23% more productive and see 78% lower absenteeism compared to those who aren’t engaged[1]. If you’re not running these, you’re missing out on:
Spotting workplace issues early. Things like unclear communication, team tensions, or process friction are often only revealed through honest feedback.
Preventing turnover. Companies with highly engaged people have a 31% lower turnover rate, meaning you keep your best talent far longer[2].
Boosting morale and loyalty. High engagement leads to stronger loyalty and a positive culture, which is the backbone of long-term growth.
Open communication channels. Consistent feedback keeps employees talking—and that transparency builds trust.
So, if you’re putting off employee engagement surveys, you’re leaving plenty of improvement (and cost-savings) on the table. It’s not just about checking a box—it’s about changing the trajectory of your organization. If you want more practical reasons, check out our take on the benefits of employee feedback surveys.
What makes a good employee engagement survey?
Creating a thoughtful employee engagement survey means more than just tossing together a few questions. Great surveys use clear, unbiased questions so your colleagues don’t feel boxed into a certain answer. The tone should be conversational—your goal is to help people feel comfortable enough to be honest. You want responses that are both high in quantity and high in quality.
Here’s a quick visual on survey practices:
Bad practices | Good practices |
|---|---|
Ambiguous wording | Clear, direct questions |
Leading or biased phrasing | Neutral tone |
Too many required fields | Mix of open and structured |
No follow-up for clarity | Conversational, asks “why?” |
Measure your survey’s effectiveness by the engagement it generates—the number of responses and their depth tell you if you’ve struck the right tone. And if you’re looking to fine-tune your questions, browse our deep dive on best practices for employee engagement survey questions.
Question types and examples for employee engagement surveys
Your survey should bring together different question types to capture a full picture of engagement. Let’s walk through them with practical examples.
Open-ended questions invite employees to speak honestly and thoughtfully. They’re best for capturing nuance and context:
What do you enjoy most about working here?
What’s one change you’d suggest to improve team morale?
These are especially valuable early in your process or in pulse surveys where you want to hear what’s top of mind. They reveal root causes behind numbers and open up the conversation.
Single-select multiple-choice questions are perfect for quick, structured feedback that makes analysis a breeze. Use them when you want clear-cut comparisons across the organization.
How satisfied are you with the current recognition program?
Very satisfied
Somewhat satisfied
Neutral
Somewhat dissatisfied
Very dissatisfied
NPS (Net Promoter Score) question helps quantify loyalty and overall engagement—it’s a single, proven metric with massive benchmarking potential. If you want to generate an NPS survey for employee engagement, you just need this:
How likely are you to recommend this company as a great place to work? (0-10 scale)
NPS questions are most useful when you’re tracking trends over time or need a company-wide engagement snapshot.
Followup questions to uncover "the why" let you dig deeper into unclear or interesting responses, bringing richer insights out of every answer. For example:
Can you elaborate on what made you feel that way?
The best follow-ups are gentle nudges that clarify context or motivation. If you want more tips, we have a full guide on creating insightful survey questions.
What is a conversational survey?
Conversational surveys take the stiffness out of collecting feedback. Instead of static forms, they mimic a real chat—back and forth, adapting in real time. This is where an AI survey generator shines. Unlike traditional manual creation (which can be tedious, slow, and error-prone), Specific’s AI survey builder makes the process intuitive and dynamic, giving you a tailored, expert-crafted survey in moments.
Manual surveys | AI-generated surveys |
|---|---|
Slow to compose | Instant to generate |
Limited flexibility | Adaptive, customized instantly |
Requires survey expertise | Expert logic built-in |
No follow-ups by default | Conversational follow-ups |
Why use AI for employee surveys? The main advantage: your survey instantly adapts—question wording, tone, and follow-up depth—giving you a ready-to-go AI survey example that’s fine-tuned for employee engagement. Specific offers a best-in-class experience for conversational surveys, making both creation and response smooth and enjoyable for everyone. Curious how this works? We’ve explained all steps in our guide to creating a conversational survey.
The power of follow-up questions
Automated follow-up questions are a game changer—if you’re interested, we’ve broken down how they work in our guide to AI-powered follow-ups. Specific’s engine asks smart, context-aware questions based on a respondent’s last answer, just like a skilled interviewer. This saves huge amounts of time compared to manual follow-up via email or Slack, and makes the interaction flow like a real conversation.
Employee: "Communication could be better."
AI follow-up: "Could you share a specific example where communication fell short?"
How many followups to ask? Usually, two or three follow-ups are enough to clarify or expand responses. It’s smart to let respondents skip to the next question once you’ve collected what you need—Specific lets you customize this intensity easily.
This makes it a conversational survey, turning static answers into a lively, context-rich conversation—one that’s far more valuable for analysis and action.
Text analysis with AI, response summaries, survey response analytics: Advanced AI tools take the pain out of analyzing large amounts of unstructured feedback. With features like AI survey response analysis, you can get instant summaries and explore key themes without drowning in spreadsheets.
This approach to follow-ups is new—generate your own survey and see firsthand how effective this conversation-driven method can be.
See this employee engagement survey example now
Get actionable feedback instantly and see the difference that AI-powered, conversational employee engagement surveys can make. Unlock deeper insights for your team—don’t leave your workplace culture to chance.